Robert Campbell Dunn was the Minnesota Republican Party's candidate
for governor in 1904. He lost the election to the Democratic candidate John A.
Johnson by about 7,800 votes out of nearly 304,000 votes cast, even though in
the presidential race the Republican candidate Theodore Roosevelt carried
Minnesota by more than 161,000 votes. Dunn attributed his loss to a deep split
in the Republican party (particularly in Hennepin County), his opponent nearly
sweeping the ethnic Swedish vote; opposition from corporations remembering his
hard stance toward them as state auditor; and a charge that he was a pawn of
James J. Hill. Previous to his first term in the Minnesota legislature in 1889,
he served as county attorney for Mille Lacs County from 1884 to 1888 and town
clerk for Princeton from 1878 to 1889. After being defeated in 1890, Dunn won
another seat in the Minnesota legislature in 1892. In 1894 he was elected state
auditor and served for two terms through 1902. In early 1904 Dunn entered the
race for the governorship and defeated several rivals, including Loren W.
Collins and Frank M. Eddy, for the nomination at the state Republican
convention.

Dunn was born in Plumbridge, County Tyrone, Ireland on February 14,
1855. After spending a year in London, he emigrated the U.S. in 1870. After
living in several locales for several years, Dunn learned the printer's trade
in St. Louis and, by 1876, was living in Princeton, Minnesota. There he bought
out the local newspaper, The Appeal, and promptly
changed its name to the Princeton Union. As editor
and publisher of this newspaper, he became very active in Republican Party
politics and earned a statewide name for himself. He campaigned to bring the
railroad to Princeton and, as state auditor, went after the timber companies
for non-payment of taxes. As a legislator, Dunn fought for good roads.

In February 1887 Dunn married Lydia McKenzie and the couple had two
children: a son, George, who became a doctor, and a daughter named Grace.
Despite losing the election in 1904, Dunn remained active in Republican Party
politics, continued to publish the Princeton Union
and served in the Minnesota House of Representatives for two terms (1911-1914)
and in the Minnesota Senate for two terms (1915-1918). Robert C. Dunn died in
Princeton on October 28, 1918.

SCOPE AND CONTENTS

This collection pertains almost exclusively to Dunn's campaign for
governor in 1904. It includes correspondence from late 1903, when Dunn was
being urged to run from people throughout the state, through the Republican
state nominating convention in late June, and through to election day in early
November 1904. The incoming correspondence includes a large volume of letters
from fellow newspaper editors (largely from rural Minnesota), other county
auditors, local politicians, and acquaintances, as well as a number of personal
friends. Letters contain a good deal of inside politics: who is for Dunn and
who is against Dunn in a particular locale or county, and lining up delegates
for the county and state conventions. After the nominating convention in late
June, there are congratulatory letters, letters of advice and description of
the local political situation, lining up campaign appearances, and even a few
appeals for employment once Dunn is elected. Incoming correspondence stops a
day or so before the election.

The outgoing correspondence, consisting of five indexed letterpress
books, contains Dunn's replies to many of the people who wrote him during the
campaign and, for the most part, are long and emotional. Dunn expresses his
views frankly on a number of subjects and individuals, both opponents and
supporters. There are a number letters dated after the election, which reveal
his analysis of why he lost and indicate his great regret that he will not be
able to reward his friends and supporters. While some of the correspondence,
pamphlets, and statements predate and postdate the 1904 campaign, the vast
majority dates from 1903 and 1904. A selection of speeches and newspaper
clippings supplement the correspondence and add to an understanding of the 1904
campaign.

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.